Saturday, November 14, 2026
Hurricane debris caught in the mangroves.
Residents Beach Burrowing Owls, Ocean and Moana, survived the fierce storm surge and were observed re-digging the next day.
A rare sighting of an American Flamingo in the Ten Thousand Islands - and the first in Collier County –in January 2022. Here it is in the company of a White Pelican.
Tigertail Beach Dredging Project in progress.
Beach Ambassador and Community Officer Ira Warder hands out frisbees to the young beach volunteers from Boston visiting grandma, a member/volunteer of the beach sponsor, Marco Island Woman’s Club.
MIA Key Club members haul a large sheet of polystyrene foam during November’s Beach Cleanup. There were 789 beach volunteers (combination of Love Your Beach, Friends of Tigertail and JW’s Quarterly Beach Clean-up) who picked up roughly 2,100 pounds of trash! Thank you!
Water level starting to recede at the foot of SS Jolley Bridge during Hurricane Ian.
It’s a long way to “normal” but as you drive around Marco Island, it is hard to believe that just barely four months ago a devastating hurricane and storm surge flooded our streets and inundated our homes, destroying properties and upsetting the balance of our barrier island coastal ecosystem.
On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall over Southwest Florida with recorded sustained winds of 150 mph, making it the fifth strongest hurricane to reach land in the United States and the deadliest to strike Florida since 1935.
Manatees – Manatee scientists fear that Hurricane Ian's floodwaters will create a spike in algal blooms which kills seagrass, the main diet of the manatees. As of December 23, 2022, Florida Manatee Mortality as recorded by FWC was 783.
Sea Turtle Season 2022: Fortunately, Ian came at the tail end of the Sea Turtle Season with just a few remaining unhatched nests. Disappointingly, for the fourth year, Marco Island recorded the highest disorientation of hatched nests in Collier County with a total of ten (nine last year). Just to clarify, hatchling disorientation as reported by the Collier County sea turtle monitors is a consequence of lights on the beach. Erroneously, it had been suggested that higher disorientation numbers are due to increased enforcement. If enforcement had an impact, Marco should be seeing a decrease in hatchling disorientation, not an increase each year.
Love Your Beach Monthly Cleanups: For Marco residents, “Life is a Clean Beach.” For 2022 approximately 789 volunteers (combination of Love Your Beach, Friends of Tigertail and JW Marriott Quarterly Beach Cleanups) hauled roughly 2,100 pounds of trash. Post Ian in October and November, roughly 1,100 pounds of trash were picked up by volunteers. Dedicated beach walkers also pick up small trash items on a daily basis!
Burrowing Owls: Hurricane Ian came in late September when nesting season was over and chicks have moved out. The owls found shelter away from the rain and wind and once water receded, they started re-digging. For the 2022 season we had 524 fledged chicks. Marco had 259 Active Sites with 238 pairs of owls. Thanks to 76 owl watch volunteers monitoring year-round.
Starter Burrow Program: Thanks to 115 residents who volunteered their developed lots to attract burrowing owls with the latest one at Crescent Beach Condo.
Gopher Tortoises: Thanks to 12 active volunteers year-round and post
Ian there was not any evidence of dead tortoises. Volunteers have recorded 2,451 potentially occupied burrows with an estimated 1,226 gopher tortoise with more surveys planned for Key Marco and Hideaway.
Reuse Water: On February 17th, 2022, Waterways Advisory Committee (WAC) passed a motion for a Request-for-Information (RFI) on technology that would upgrade the sewage treatment plant to remove excess nutrients that can cause lowered oxygen in the waterways, like phosphorus. City Council approved this same motion and three responses were received.
Sand Dollar Island Dredging Project: The multiple dredging components are in full swing “to support restoration of Sand Dollar Island to its pre-Irma condition.” Cost: Originally $3,306, 187.50 but with anticipated Post Ian overruns, Hideaway is looking to the County for additional funds to complete the project.
How often is dredging going to occur? Looks like the permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers is for 15 years. Google Earth time lapse shows a significant evolution of coastline moving northward – hard to stop Mother Nature.
Water Quality Concerns to the Dredging Project: Concerns that pollution from the dredging being pumped straight into the Gulf waters has been reported to the Department of Environmental Protection but they have yet to respond.
“Stormwater and Hurricane Debris in Water.” There are cautionary signs on the beach warning of hidden hazards in the water or under the sand such as glass, wood and metal along with the presence of organic and chemical contaminants all left by Ian’s runoff and storm surge.
San Marco Road’s Fruit Farm Creek Mangrove Restoration Project Update: Currently in its final phase, four 60-inch culverts will soon restore tidal flow to the impaired mangrove forest south of San Marco Road. It will restore 64 acres of dead mangroves and also restore the health of 159 acres of existing impaired mangrove forest.
On January 11th 2022 – The birding and conservation community felt like they “won the lottery” with a rare sighting of an American Flamingo, a native species sighted in the Ten Thousand Island and the first in Collier County!
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